REIMAGINE
BEYOND COVID-19
A NEW
MULTIPURPOSE
SPACE FOR THE
EDUCATIONAL
COMMUNITY
OF BETHLEHEM

GENERAL INFORMATION:
- civil servants: 5
- teachers: 285
- children and their families: 6.342
- preschools: 89
- local companies: 29


PROJECT BACKGROUND
Reggio Emilia area has a close relationship with Palestine, in particular with the Governorate of Bethlehem.
REIMAGINE project is part of a shared path started in 2015 by RTM in Palestine in support of the Early Childhood that involved Reggio Children Foundation, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and E35 Foundation.
Context
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has challenged everyone to rethink face-to-face education and learning environments. In Palestine, 160,000 preschool children abruptly interrupted school attendance in March 2020, and consequently their newly established relationships with peers and teachers. The repeated lockdowns that followed one another in the two-year period 2020-2021 have already made them missing 5 months of school.
Furthermore, on one hand, at least 20% of Palestinian students did not have access to the internet or technological devices which could ensure educational continuity at home. On the other hand, schools lack spaces that can guarantee the safe welcoming of more children. Therefore, it is necessary to identify low-cost interventions to improve the sustainability of existing school structures, such as the adaptation / rehabilitation of common spaces and the creation of multipurpose environments. The Bethlehem Training Center (BTC) lends itself well to this recovery project.

GENERAL INFORMATION:
- civil servants: 5
- teachers: 285
- children and their families: 6.342
- preschools: 89
- local companies: 29


GOAL
REIMAGINE aims at ensuring equitable and safe access to inclusive and quality educational services for vulnerable Palestinian children and communities.
Specifically, a public educational space now rarely used, the Training Center, will be made available to the community of Bethlehem through a participatory planning process. The redevelopment of the Training Center’s environment will take place through the involvement of the entire educational community of Bethlehem (authorities and competent public entities, school staff and families).
ACTIVITIES
The intervention is divided into four groups of activities:
- Coordination
Establishment of a Coordination Committee consisting of the four partners of the initiative.
Drafting of the operational plan, the monitoring and evaluation plan and the Safety and Risks plan.
- Renovation of the Bethlehem Training Center
Organization of a presentation event of the participatory path for the various stakeholders.
Creation of 2 participatory design workshops for the redefinition of environments and functionalities. Implementation of small renovation works and provision of new furniture, equipment and tools in a child-friendly and multipurpose perspective.
- Awareness raising in Emilia Romagna
Organization of a thematic event open to Emilia Romagna citizenship within the framework of the European Sustainability Week and the Sustainable Development Festival.
Social media campaign on project activities, results and good practices.
- Awareness raising in the Governorate of Bethlehem
Organization of an inauguration event of the renovated Training Center’s premises. Creation of customized editorial products on Palestinian media and a multimedia video on the renovation works intervention.
Social media campaign in collaboration with the local actors involved, in order to increase the awareness of the educational community of Bethlehem regarding the opportunities and potential of the new Training Center.
PHOTO AND VIDEO
